~ Beyond bones & stones

Coastal Exploitation of Ancient Foragers

Here’s the abstract of a recent paper by Torben C. Rick and Jon M. Erlandson:

The development and spread of agriculture and pastoralism during the past 10,000 years is often seen as the tipping point when humans fundamentally changed our relationship with the natural world. Ancient hunter-gatherers also altered their environments, although the extent to which they did so remains hotly debated (1–3). Hunter-gatherers may have caused major alterations of terrestrial ecosystems, including the use of fire to enhance resource productivity and the translocation of various animals to new regions (3, 4). They are implicated in massive megafaunal extinctions in the Americas and Australia (2, 3). Recent archaeological research from coastal areas shows that they also substantially altered and enhanced marine ecosystems in other ways, some of which obscure the definition of the term “hunter-gatherer.”

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About Tim Jones

I have a generalised interest in areas of research and discovery related to palaeoanthropology, archaeology and so forth. As a layman in all matters scientific, I like to cover and comment upon current and salient topics, hence this blog.
I also occasionally submit content to Anthropology.net